There is a pressing need to improve the quality of higher education in Egypt and a stronger role of higher education institutions to better prepare graduates for the labor market. One subject is the introduction of entrepreneurship education in HEI. Several initiatives in that regards.
- ILO in collaboration with Cairo University have introduced the KAB (Know about business) in several Egyptian Universities. The goal was to introduce faculty members of these universities to the KAB. The university professors were trained to be TOT by the ILO local office. Selected professors were granted 10 days training in ILO headquarters in Italy. Further, selected professors were further trained in Cairo. Now, there are well trained National Key Facilitators (NKF). These NKF have conducted several training sessions to other faculty members. All the training explained above were conducted using the 11 modules of the KAB project. The author was one of the NKF in entrepreneurship. The program was implemented by the ILO
- Egyptian Social Fund for Development (SFD) has launched an Entrepreneurship Education Programme to introduce entrepreneurship curriculum in selected universities and colleges across the country.
- Egyptian Junior Business Association (JBA) actively promotes entrepreneurship as a career option to university students through its KEY Career Development Program.
Green Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program (GIEP). GIEP is an EU-funded project under the TEMPUS program that brings three European and four Egyptian universities together to develop a joint graduate program. A group of professors from the participating universities and representatives from the green industry is carrying out a market needs analysis. The curriculum of the GIEP itself is being developed with multidisciplinary modules of engineering, social science, economics, policy and management courses.
Contact information of the main actors involved in the initiative
- Name and surname : Ahmed Abdel-Mawgood
- Position : Vice Dean for Scientific Research and Graduate Studies, Institute of Graduate Studies and Environmental Research
- Organisation : Damanhour University, Damanhour, Egypt
- Address :
- Telephone : 00201274074021, 00201110552447
- Email : almawgood@yahoo.com
- Website :
- Name and surname : Ebeed A. Saleh
- Position : President
- Organisation : Damanhour Univ
- Address : Damanhour
- Telephone : 01099494049
- Email : ebeed.saleh@yahoo.com
- Website
Relevance of the development of initiative in its specific context
Although those who got trained were faculty members, the ILO initiative was aiming at training university students and university graduates on the entrepreneurship. Aiming at changing mind set of them concerning the entrepreneurship. The Involved universities were financial supporting the activities held in their institutes. The ILO office in Cairo was supporting some of the activities.
Visibility of the action
The means were training the university professors to be TOT in the field of entrepreneurship. The goal is to make entrepreneurial success attainable for youth, by giving them the skills, resources and role models.
Transferability
Yes, the model can be implemented by other universities. The KAB offered by the ILO can be very easily adjusted to specific needs. The modules are in English and Arabic languages. It can be shortened to be taught in few days. The full modules can be taught in two weeks.
Sustainability
- Each university established their own centre for entrepreneurship training centre.
- The Centres are funded from Ministry of Higher Education in Egypt
Innovative character
The collaboration between the universities and the ILO office in Cairo.
Impact
Entrepreneurship education in universities further developed the entrepreneurial skills and knowledge and better prepared them to develop their own ideas for businesses (including social enterprises). The education helped trainers to secure positions in private sectors.
